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larry_yonce's review against another edition
5.0
A book that is sure to stick with me.
Beautifully constructed and written. I was moved by this brief book with its poetic and poignant reflections on the nature of joy and the meaning of death. Includes a masterful description of a ruined dance hall; a place of great significance in the memories and the life of the narrator. Also includes an unforgettable "the tables have now turned" moment.
Beautifully constructed and written. I was moved by this brief book with its poetic and poignant reflections on the nature of joy and the meaning of death. Includes a masterful description of a ruined dance hall; a place of great significance in the memories and the life of the narrator. Also includes an unforgettable "the tables have now turned" moment.
bosbahr8's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
the_enobee's review
4.0
Southern Gothic at its hallucinatory best. Delightful and mesmerizing, I’ll definitely be reading more James Purdy. Thank you, Valancourt!
lovisahells's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
whothehelliskaitlin's review against another edition
5.0
I absorbed this book within a day and I loved the ride it took me on. Did I understand everything that was happening and being said immediately? Nope. Regardless, I enjoyed reading Purdy's style of writing so much that it wasn't hard to keep reading. The southern feel of this book draws you in along with the characters. I had to keep reading to try to understand them better and to figure out their dynamics and motivations. And although I was immensely surprised by the supernatural elements that appear later in this book they only drove me on more. I also enjoyed the introspection in this book and the commentary on the treatment of veterans. What unexpected fun.
apolo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
rpmirabella's review against another edition
4.0
Purdy is not for you if you expect to like or see yourself in characters. You will not see yourself in his work. I never have, and that's great! His interests were not to transcribe reality, to comfort, to relate. His novels and stories, rather, expose the naked, painful, unreachable desires of his characters, and of all of us if we can admit it. This one, like NARROW ROOMS, is about desire and loneliness, fear, and dangerous love. Our narrator elicits sympathy in us because of his war injuries, as well as disgust because he can be pathetic cruel, and because he's a racist. In the intro, Schenker calls this Garnet's "conflicting racial attitudes," but it's just racism. I'm not saying Purdy was racist. I don't know that. But his character is. And really, when you read work by old white men, it's hard to know what you're going to get. It can be a little uncomfortable reading Purdy's portrayals, but honestly, every portrayal in his work causes discomfort. I think he was motivated by sexual desire, by his own tastes and desires, which may repel you.
Quintus, a Black man who becomes a kind of companion to Garnet, the main character, is almost a cipher, until he becomes one of the most powerful forces in the book. Purdy does this a lot, shifts power from one character to another. It's interesting. There are several reversals of love in this work. Just to see how Purdy controls these forces is astounding, and worth reading the book to witness.
Quintus, a Black man who becomes a kind of companion to Garnet, the main character, is almost a cipher, until he becomes one of the most powerful forces in the book. Purdy does this a lot, shifts power from one character to another. It's interesting. There are several reversals of love in this work. Just to see how Purdy controls these forces is astounding, and worth reading the book to witness.
verkisto's review
2.0
Valancourt has reissued a lot of old Gothic/horror books over the last few years, so I've become a big fan of the stuff they publish, enough so that I'll buy a lot of their reprints sight unseen. That was the case with In a Shallow Grave. Unfortunately, not all of Valancourt's reprints are hits with me. That was also the case with In a Shallow Grave.
Most of my feelings about the novella, though, are due to my expectations. I think I was expecting the book to be a literary horror novel, not a literary novel with some supernatural overtones. The story is essentially plotless, relying on the characters to carry the story, and there wasn't much in them to which I could relate. The central characters are a Vietnam veteran who has suffered an injury that has turned him inside-out (I kept getting hung up on the impossibility of such a thing), a black man who serves as a caregiver for the veteran (who in turn raises some racist feeling in the narrator), and another caregiver who shows up on the veteran's property one day and forms a friendship with him. The three of them then spend the novella developing their relationships.
The story seems to be the kind that begs examination and discussion, and due to its themes, I can see it being the subject of many English literature courses. It just didn't do anything for me, again because I was looking for something a bit flashier, a bit more entertaining. I don't mind stories with literary ambitions, or that are unafraid to address complex themes, but I want it to be entertaining, as well. I'm much more interested in books that have been blurbed by Adrian Tchaikovsky or N.K. Jemisin than I am in those blurbed by Gore Vidal or Tennessee Williams. Call it anti-intellectual if you like, but it's the truth.
Fortunate Musical Connection: "Shallow Grave" by A Pale Horse Named Death
Most of my feelings about the novella, though, are due to my expectations. I think I was expecting the book to be a literary horror novel, not a literary novel with some supernatural overtones. The story is essentially plotless, relying on the characters to carry the story, and there wasn't much in them to which I could relate. The central characters are a Vietnam veteran who has suffered an injury that has turned him inside-out (I kept getting hung up on the impossibility of such a thing), a black man who serves as a caregiver for the veteran (who in turn raises some racist feeling in the narrator), and another caregiver who shows up on the veteran's property one day and forms a friendship with him. The three of them then spend the novella developing their relationships.
The story seems to be the kind that begs examination and discussion, and due to its themes, I can see it being the subject of many English literature courses. It just didn't do anything for me, again because I was looking for something a bit flashier, a bit more entertaining. I don't mind stories with literary ambitions, or that are unafraid to address complex themes, but I want it to be entertaining, as well. I'm much more interested in books that have been blurbed by Adrian Tchaikovsky or N.K. Jemisin than I am in those blurbed by Gore Vidal or Tennessee Williams. Call it anti-intellectual if you like, but it's the truth.
Fortunate Musical Connection: "Shallow Grave" by A Pale Horse Named Death